Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1887-05-13
PREPARATION OF CONDENSED MILK.
Operations In the Three Factories in
Switzerland-An Interesting Process.

switzerland-An Interesting Process.
NJ. Louis Grandeur has just published
a succinct and instructive account of
dairy farming in Switzerland. There
are, he els us, about /, 100, 900 head of
cattle i'll Switzerland, rather more than
half of which are'cows. The total guam
tity of milk which they yield in the
course of year is 223. 000 900 gallons.
the daily average per cow being one and
one-quarter gallons, and the value of this
milk, estimated in English money at
about pence per gallon, is about $3.50,
600 pounds sterling. NJ. Grandeur then
proceeds to show how this large guam
tity of milk is disposed of. In the first
place, one-half is used for making 40 600
tons of cheese, and of this quantity %
per cent. Is thin cheese-that is to say,
made with skim milk. The cream taken
from the milk used in making thin
cheese goes to make $4,000 tons of but
ter, which is not quite enough for home
consumption. But of cheese something
like 10000 pounds sterling worth is ex-
ported every year. The native consump.
ton of milk itself, and the preparation
of condensed milk, accounts for another
80, 100000 gallons; this amounting, with
what is converted into butter and cheese,
to Sc per cent. of the whole. The re-
naming IA per cent. goes toward rearing
the 300, 900 calves which are, taking one
year with another, to be found in Swift
erland. M. Grandeur then goes on to
describe the operations of the Condensed
Milk company, which, with its capital of
400, 900 pounds sterling. has seven fac
tories, of which three (Cham, Guin, and
ReichenbachD are in Switzerland.
This industry had it's origin, SO far as
Switzerland was concerned, at Cham,
when, in 1866, Mr.. Page, the United
States consul at Zurich, determined to
try an experiment which had been con-
Quoted successfully upon large scale
in his own country. lie had great diff
Guilty in getting any one to believe in the
possibility of success. and for the first
year or two his factory did not condense
the milk of more than 800 COWS, or
make more than $50, 900 pound tins of
condensed milk. At the present time
the Cham factory receives the milk of
5000 cows, and turns out more than TO-
600, 900 tins of milk year.
The milk is brought to the factory on
large trolleys, each holding eighty cans;
the company itself fetching the milk
from the various farms, and giving a
uniform price of 1-2 pence per gallon
for it. Upon arriving at the factory the
milk is passed into a large reservoir
through net which acts as strainer
This reservoir also serves as one of the
scales of a machine which weighs the
milk. After the m ilk has been weighed
plug is withdrawn from the bottom
of the reservoir, and the milk runs out
into large boilers of copper, where
it is mixed with sugar of the same
weight as itself. When the sugar is dis
solved the liquid mixture runs into
vacuum boilers, where it undergoes, at
a very high temperature, the process of
condensation. In the course of three
hours it is reduced to about third of
its original volume by the elimination of
water, while the essential elements of
the milk, such as fat and caseine are
in no way affected. From the condens
ing boilers, the liquid mixture, which
has about the same consistency as a
fluid sirup, is passed into large cylin-
ders which are constantly being i'm
mersed in cold water. where it rapidly
cools. The condensed milk, when cold
is raised by machinery into the work
shops, where it is put into metal tins,
which are Immediately sealed hermeti-
caly, and are then ready for sale. All
the cans used for bringing in the mill
are first washed out with water, Their
scrubbed inside, and finally steamed,
before going back to the dairy.
The treatment of this large quantity of
milk and the fabrication and filling OF
some $4,000 tins per diem would be i'm.
possible unless the greater part of the
work was done 10y machinery; and from
the cutting out of the sheets of metal
which are used for making the tins tc
the fastening down of the wooden cases
in which the milk is sent all over the
world, all is done by machinery, single
workman being able to solder 400 tins al
hour, thanks to the excellence of the
machines he manages. Chicago Times